In an Oct. 21 press release, Petronas said it will construct the plant on 25 acres of industrial land in Patalganga MIDC near Mumbai in a phased approach, with a provision to expand capacity to 120,000 tons per year in the second phase.

As a global lubricants player breaking through the ranks of the top 10, Petronas Lubricants International is committed to a growth agenda, said Giuseppe Pedretti, the companys Asia regional head. Asia is a key region to carry this growth and India – as one of the economic pillars of Asia – continues to be an important focus country for us. Since our venture into India in 2006, we have charted a five year cumulative annual growth rate of more than 57 percent, through the support of our distributors, OEMs and business partners here.

Now that the company has a good footing in the market, he said, it is ready to take the next step towards establishing Petronas lubricants business and brand in India. This involves investing into building facilities that will support our supply chain network, as well as developing people to work with us in both manufacturing and marketing lubricants here, said Pedretti.

Wholly owned by the government of Malaysia, Petronas is vested with all of the states oil and gas resources.

According to its web site, the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corp. is a state owned corporation established to secure and assist in the rapid and orderly establishment of industries in industrial areas and industrial estates in the Maharashtra state of India.